the buzz log
The third and final presidential debate wasn't about Barack the Senator. And it wasn't about John the maverick, either. Instead it was all about Joe the plumber.
The debate was fairly unremarkable, save for repeated references to a plumber from Toledo, Ohio named Joe Wurzelbacher. Sen. McCain made the first reference when he chided his democratic rival for wanting to raise taxes on people like ol' Joe. That's standard—politicians often make allusions to "regular folks" to prove that they understand real problems.
But then it got weird. Sen. Obama mentioned the suddenly famous plumber, too. And then Sen. McCain talked about Joe some more. It was almost as if both candidates thought the entire election rode on Joe's vote. By the end of the debate, "Joe the plumber" had been mentioned a grand total of 20 times. That's more than "change" and "reform" combined.
The bizarre exchange inspired both the searchers and the bloggers. Queries on "who is joe the plumber" and "joe wurzelbacher" both skyrocketed. Meanwhile, blogs and papers from the Buzz attempted to shed some light on the man behind the socket wrench. The New York Times explains how Joe and Sen. Obama met and discussed Obama's tax plan for small businesses (like, ahem, plumbers).
Politico reports that Joe isn't about to surrender his 15 minutes. He's already talked to Katie Couric and he'll be ruminating on his sudden fame during morning news programs. Tune in, but don't expect to hear who he's voting for. Media Bistro writes that Joe plans to keep that between himself and the lever (well, assuming he's registered).
Filed under: Elections, Barack Obama, John McCain
the buzz log
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what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
For more detailed information, visit our FAQ.
comments
Posted by tvarges | Thu, October 16, 2008, 8:14 am PDT
Why do you always quote CBS and CNN. The polls on Drudge and Fox certainly do not agree with your liberal polls.
Posted by guest238c | Thu, October 16, 2008, 8:15 am PDT
Why do you always quote CBS and CNN. There results do not agree with Fox and Drudge. Could it be that you are liberal biased?
Posted by mikedadw | Thu, October 16, 2008, 8:16 am PDT
The press are a bunch of left wing liers, you can set the polls up to read anyway you want them to. I am so sick of the press useing their position to try and affect the outcome of elections. No one wants to be on the side of a looser, so the press are trying to make it out like Mcain has already lost the election. You all make me sick I hope that someday you are held accountable for your lies and actions.
Posted by wsb1950@sbcglobal.net | Thu, October 16, 2008, 8:30 am PDT
Joe the plumber in Toledo is no different than Wayne the teacher in Detroit.We both want to see our country and our elected government officials address the needs of our citizens.That means the sell outs in congress need to get their heads in order and meet the needs of our citizenry.I am seriously fed up with our citizens being sold out by the morons in the congres and the oval office,in particular,believing that they can continue to lie and pimp the public.Things in this couintry must change! Or,our congress and alleged leaders are sowing the seeds of anarchy. Thank You.
Wayne B. in the D
Posted by jdcitro | Thu, October 16, 2008, 10:37 am PDT
Hey Krumboltz, he wouldn't be carrying a socket wrench but certainly a pipe wrench. You're outta touch.
Posted by carolynw46@att.net | Thu, October 16, 2008, 11:03 am PDT
Who Is Joe the Plumber? My question is who paid him to make his appearance on the scene just before the last presidential debate? Do you think the media will find just the right time to release the real story about Joe the Plumber?
Posted by mmj180 | Thu, October 16, 2008, 11:10 am PDT
I believe “Joe the Plumber” was a pawn John McCain decided to use to prove he is “in touch” with the common man. McCain never spoke with Joe, Obama did. McCain on the other hand was the first to bring up his name and then start using it obsessively. I think it just proves how out of touch he actually is with Middle Class America. Joe is mistaken on what Obama’s tax program is actually going to do, but I think he has one thing stuck in his head and didn’t really listen to Obama when he took the time to speak to him. His tax plan is not socialism its just bringing everyone back to the same, people need to use both ears to listen and learn from this country’s last 8 year mistake.
Posted by centralmonty | Thu, October 16, 2008, 12:29 pm PDT
I just watched the ABC news interview with "Joe the plumber." Does Joe really believe that someone making a million dollars a year or more works as hard as the person doing a job that requires manual labor? Most people with big incomes are making their money from investments, stocks, real estate, etc (often inherited) not from actual work. It is much easier to make money from money rather than physical work or even brain power. I don't call a slightly higher tax on wealth socialism. I call it fairness We seem to think it is this countries social responsibility and moral obligation to fix all of the worlds problems with our money. Do we call that socialism? What's wrong with a little fixing (a lot really) right here in our own back yard? We need to pay for it somehow. Let those living the privileged lifestyle and making the easy bucks pay a little more. I think that is fair. Most of us are just trying to keep our heads above water. I feel like Joe has really sold out the little guy who is working as hard as possible. Why is he taking the side of the wealthy? Something smells bad to me!
Posted by lindavanhaitsma | Thu, October 16, 2008, 2:01 pm PDT
Let's stop judging people! The left and the right are not going to anything on their agenda. People, wake up and take a government class. I think this election has had the worst television bias ever. We the people have to stop asking for government hand outs and get off our a.. and do something for ourselves.
Posted by jterry60649 | Thu, October 16, 2008, 2:06 pm PDT
No one cares about "Joe the plumber". I just think is ironic that a man with no license for plumbing just happened to pop up in McCains mind during the debate. This was another attempt by McCain to discredit Obama.
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